Family photographs of BoNhia, Mang and their baby boy taken at their new home in Fresno. BoNhia is a friend and co-worker of mine at The Fresno Bee. It was nice to spend time making important pictures for someone I know. And she has such a beautiful family! I hope that they will enjoy these images for life.

My fall portraits are a little different than most in that I strive for real moments and feelings between the subjects as well as nicely composed portraits.

The season is winding down but it’s still possible to get a slot in over the next couple of weeks so if you are interested, please send me an email and I’ll get right back to you.

Engelmann is a great place for wedding photography because there are so many background options in such a small area. The patio outside the winery makes for a great spot for dancing pictures too. I also liked doing their engagement and pre-ceremony photos in and around their Harlan Ranch neighborhood in Clovis. Again, so many choices!

Of course you can’t go wrong just about anywhere in October. My favorite time of the year – weather-wise.

For you gear heads, I actually shot this with my Canon 5D and a 300mm lens. I only have one “fast” camera – a 1D Mark III which has a 70-200mm on it for the near side of the court. I use the 5D for “just in case” shots, which worked out pretty well here.

I also went up to north Fresno where I got  a bunch of photos of a neighborhood up there that really goes all out for the holiday. It was pretty fun for me – especially since we don’t cover the event the day of very often. Usually we only preview it because by the next day it’s old news. The Bee gallery can be seen here.

Click the “i” above the images to see the photo captions.

I spent the day in the tiny west side farm town of Mendota on Friday covering the undefeated high school varsity football team and first year coach Beto Mejia for a feature that ran in The Bee today. It was a nice change to spend some time on a project like this to really capture the flavor of what was happening in that little community that has for so long been suffering through high unemployment and a poor economy. The story that went along with the photos was written by Andy Boogaard and I think it does a great job of bringing that tale to life. The community really came together for this team which really hasn’t gotten a lot of press over the last few years. I can’t remember the last time I covered a game there.

I got to the school at about 3pm when school was getting out. The players were all wearing their dress shirts and ties, something new this year. They came together with the JV team for a team meeting and meal together. During that time I met with the school principal Gloria Bolin who went on and on about how special the team was. She was even quoting player stats. She was excited that they were able to beat Dos Palos, a power that regularly beat Mendota in the past. This week they were to take on Orange Cove, who knocked the Aztecs out of the playoffs last year.

I watched the team warm up in the dark and only a faint light coming from the stadium. Then it was to the weight room where they gathered for a final meeting and Coach Beto Mejia’s inspiring message. He fired those players up in every way but I could still see that they were a little nervous.

Once the game got started those nerves started to show with a dropped ball or two and less than stellar play. It didn’t take long though and the team put those nerves aside and started to play well. The Aztecs made the first score and Orange Cove was able to tie it up at 7 but that was where it ended. It was all Aztecs the rest of the way.

There was one play where the Aztecs had the ball on 4th down and about 25 or 30 to go on about the Orange Cove 35. I was thinking why don’t they just punt it and pin Orange Cove deep on their end of the field. But it was clear they were going to go for it. They threw the ball deep and it was a beautiful touchdown catch in the end zone. That sure paid off.

In the end it was 43-7 but I watched as Coach Mejia wouldn’t let it get to the players’ heads. He forbid them from rubbing it in on their Facebook pages or anywhere else. He also reminded them firmly that it was far from a perfect game for them and they had a lot to work on. They guy has a great work ethic and his drive for success is motivating. I congratulate the Aztecs and principal Bolin for their move to hire Mejia and I look forward to covering their playoff games in a few weeks.

We did Jane and Kevin’s engagement session out at and around their home at Harlan Ranch. It really is a beautiful place but you have to go there to really experience it . It’s so quiet, way more so that my home only a few miles away. Every home it seems is meticulously manicured and the neighbors are all so friendly and outgoing. Makes me wonder if I’m in some kind of Twilight Zone altered universe – just kidding!!! No, we really had a nice time roaming the neighborhood and the community center. The final frames from our session were done on the levee just to the north of the ranch. What a beautiful sunset we were treated to. Made for a great ending to a successful engagement photography session. It was about time too since they were getting married the next weekend. I’ll post those pictures on the blog soon.

Shot a water polo showdown of top contenders in the Central Section at Buchanan High School tonight. It featured the top-ranked Buchanan boys team taking on last year’s champs, Clovis West. Buchanan took a quick 6-0 lead but Clovis West battled back before narrowly losing in the end.

Water polo is another one of those really tough sports to shoot. You need a long lens to get tight in on the action but the game is played with such speed it’s really hard to follow. I usually end up standing way behind one of the nets and try to catch the action as it comes toward me. The light is another issue. Late in the season the games are played under the lights – well, light is a loosely defined word here. My Canon 1D Mark II pushed to 32,000 iso barely gets the job done.